Pamela Louie of Tracy was driving on Interstate 580 with her dog Bear on one of those 100-degree plus days when inspiration struck.

Sharing her dog's frustration when he couldn't easily get a drink from the water bowl she had put on the car floor, Louie thought of a way to put the bowl in a sling hung on the back of the front seat. So was born K9 Kreek, a product and new company.

After a couple of years of design and development, Louie is ready to take her next steps and has entered this year's San Joaquin Entrepreneur Challenge, where she is among 18 entrepreneurs selected to participate in the first public round of competition Feb. 27 that could lead to a share of more than $24,000 in cash and business services.

Money would help. Louie said she'd like to acquire a programmable, commercial-grade sewing machine to replace the consumer-level equipment she's now using. But she's even more interested in the mix of business services, such as legal, accounting and design expertise.

"Of the business services, marketing is the thing," she said. "Even though I have a website, I still have to drive customers there."

The Entrepreneur Challenge, organized by the San Joaquin Angels investors group, is intended to help startup or would-be business owners, said Mark Plovnick, the angels group president and University of the Pacific's economic development director.

"These aspiring entrepreneurs have now taken the first steps to starting their own business in our region, and we hope the competition will encourage them to continue to pursue their vision," he said of this year's entrants.

Many of the 200 past participants in the challenge have started and expanded their businesses, including one particularly successful 2010 participant who recently sold his software company to computer maker Dell.

The public is invited attend the Feb. 27 event, which is an "American Idol"-style competition with a panel of experts and audience members voting for their favorites. Each entrepreneur will get a high-pressure, two-minute period to present their business ideas in what is known as an "elevator pitch." Eight winners will be selected to go on to the March 20 public event, where semifinal and final rounds of similar presentations and questions and answers.

Both will be held from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the Stockton Golf & Country Club, 3800 W. Country Club Blvd., Stockton. The cover charge for each event, which includes light refreshments, is $15 prepaid or $20 at the door.

For more information or to register to attend, go online to sjchallenge.com.